ring in the appointing a king of the rival tribe, or indeed from heartily sympathizing in any measure which that tribe originated. But the prime agent in this schism was Abner, the commander of the army, who had drawn off the remnant of the defeated army to the other side the Jordan, and there, at Mahanaim, proclaimed Ishbosheth king. Abner was a bold and able, but unprincipled man; and doubless expected to govern in the name of his feeble nephew. And he did so. For two years no hostile acts between the two kingdoms took place. But war was at length provoked by Abner, who crossed the Jordan with the intention to subdue the tribe of Judah to the authority of Ishbosheth. David sent Joab to meet him; and the opposing forces met near the pool of Gibeon. But the men on each side felt that they were all Israelites, and were reluctant to fight against each other. The two generals, therefore, thought of a device which has often been employed in the East, and else where, to excite tribes or nations to battle when relationship or other causes made them reluctant or wanting in zeal. Twelve men on each side were matched to fight against each other between the two armies; and so well were they matched that they no sooner came within reach of one another than each man seized his antagonist by the head and sheathed his sword in his body, so that they were all killed upon the spot. This kindled the opposing forces, and a desperate and most sanguinary battle followed. It ended in the defeat of Abner, who was himself obliged to flee for his life. As he fled, he was singled out by Joab's brother Asahel, who was as swift of foot as any antelope of the field; and he pursued him, without allowing himself to be drawn aside by other objects. He was close at the heels of Abner, when the latter looked back, and finding who it was, he became most anxious to avoid such a blood-feud as would arise between him and Joab, in case he slew his brother, He therefore eneven in his own defence. treated Asahel to turn back that he might not be compelled to smite him to the ground. But finding that he was still pursued, and that it was impossible to outstrip his pursuer, ing strength every day, while the house of Saul daily became weaker and weaker. Indeed, it seems to have required all the great talents of Abner to keep the kingdom of Ishbosheth together. Meanwhile David reigned prosperously in Hebron.* He increased the number of his wives to six, by all of whom sons were born to him in that place. In this small kingdom his good and prosperous government, together with the knowledge that he had been divinely appointed to reign over all Israel, appears insensibly to have inclined the other tribes toward him, by which, more even than by war, his cause gathered that strength which that of Ishbosheth lost. Abner was fully sensible that without himself the kingdom of his nephew would fall to pieces, or rather pass quietly into the hands of David. He rated his services at their full value; and although we do not ourselves see cause to suspect, as some have done, that he contemplated taking the crown to himself, it is certain that he was not disposed to consider himself responsible to the king for his con * HEBRON is an ancient city of Palestine, situated in the heart of the hill-country of Judæa, about twenty-seven miles south-west from Jerusalem. Originally it was called Kirjath-Arba, or the city of Arba, "which Arba was a great man among the Anakims." (Josh. xiv. 15.) In the vicinity of this place, Abraham abode after he parted with Lot (Gen. xiii. 18), and bought a field with a cave in which to bury his dead. (Gen. xxiii. 3-20.) Besides Abraham and Sarah, his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob, with their wives Rebekah and Leah, and his great grandson Joseph, were severally interred here. (Gen. xxiii. 19, xxv. 10, xlix. 29-33, 1. 12, 13.) When the Hebrews invaded Palestine, Hebron was the residence of a king (Josh. xii. 10) named Hoham, who confederated with four other Canaanitish kings against Israel; but they were all discomfited and destroyed by Joshua. (Josh. x. 3, 4, 22-27.) After which the city, being taken, was assigned to Caleb (Josh. xix. 6-11) agreeably to a promise given him by Moses. (Num. xiii. 30–33, xix. 5, 24.) Subsequently it was made a city of refuge, and given to the priests. (Josh. xxi. 11, xx. 7.) Afterward, when David succeeded Saul on the throne of Israel, he selected Hebron for his royal residence, and continued there until Jerusalem was captured from the Jebusites. (2 Sam. ii. 1, v. 4-9.; 1 Chron. xii., xiii.) On the division of the kingdom under Rehoboam, Hebron fell to the share of the king of Judah. (2. Chron. xi. 10.) Hebrew, Habroun, or, according to the Arabic orthography followed by the moderns, El Hhalil, is a flourishing town, the flat-roofed houses of which are closely jammed together. It contains about four hundred families of Arabs. A splendid church was erected over the graves of the patriarchs by the empress Helena: it has long duct, or to allow any of his proceedings to be questioned by him. Now Ishbosheth had heard that Abner carried on a criminal intercourse with one of Saul's concubines, named Rizpah: and as, according to the usages of the East, the concubines of a deceased sovereign became the property of the successor in so strong and peculiar a sense, that such an act as that imputed to Abner might be interpreted into a design upon the crown, † or at least was an insulting encroachment upon the peculiar rights of royalty, even the timid Ishbosheth was roused to question Abner on the subject. It is not very clear whether the charge was true or false; but it is clear that this overbearing personage was astonished and disgusted that the king should dare to He rose question any part of his conduct. into a towering passion: "Am I, who, against Judah, have to this day shown kindness to the house of Saul, thy father, and to his brethren and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hands of David, such a dog's head that thou chargest me to-day with a fault concerning this woman? God been converted into a Turkish mosque. According to Ali Bey, who visited it in 1807, the ascent to it is by a large and fine staircase leading to a long gallery, the entrance to which is by a small court. | Toward the left is a portico, resting upon square pillars. The vestibule of the temple contains two rooms, one of which is called the tomb of Abraham, the other that of Sarah. In the body of the church, between two large pillars on the right, is seen a small recess, in which is the sepulchre of Isaac, and in a similar one upon the left is that of his wife. On the opposite side of the court is another vestibule, which has also two rooms, respectively called the tombs of Jacob and his wife. At the extremity of the portico, on the right hand, is a door leading to a sort of long gallery, which still serves for a mosque; and passing thence, is observed another room, said to contain the ashes of Joseph. All the sepulchres of the patriarchs are covered with rich carpets of green silk, magnificently embroidered with gold; those of their wives are red, embroidered in like manner. The sultans of Constantinople furnish these carpets, which are renewed from time to time. Ali Bey counted nine, one over the other, upon The rooms also the sepulchre of Abraham. which contain the tombs are covered with rich carpets: the entrance to them is guarded by iron gates, and wooden doors plated with silver, having bolts and padlocks of the same metal. More than a hundred persons are employed in the service of this Mohammedan temple. The population of Hebron is considerable: the inhabitants manufacture glass lamps, which are exported to Egypt. Provisions are abundant, and there is a considerable number of shops. † See instances of this in the case of Absalom (2 Sam. xx. 23) and Adonijah, 1 Kings, ii. 13-25. Abner was received with great distinction and royally feasted by David; and after the business on which he really came had been settled to his satisfaction, he departed with the intention of inducing the tribes to concur in giving David a public invitation to take the crown of Israel. Joab had been absent from Hebron during this visit of Abner; but he returned immediately after Abner had departed, and was deeply displeased when he learned what had occurred. Through the energy of his character, his abilities and experience in the affairs of peace and war, his influence and popularity with the army which was under his command, and his unquestioned devotion to the interests of David, this man had great authority with the king. His standing, indeed, in the kingdom of Judah, had much resemblance to that of Abner in the other kingdom; nor were their characters altogether unlike. In the points of difference, the advantage was on the side of Abner; for his experience in military and public affairs was larger, from which, together with his near relationship to Saul and his son, and the do so to Abner, and more also, if, as Jehovah | to make overtures to him in behalf of the hath sworn to David, I do not so to him, by tribes which had hitherto adhered to the transferring the dominion of the house of house of Saul. Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba." From this it seems that even Abner knew that he had acted against a higher duty, in setting up Ishbosheth in opposition to David; but this cannot justify the grounds on which he now declared his intention to act against him. What he had said was no vain threat, although he was probably willing afterward that the son of Saul should take it for an unmeaning outbreak of passion. He sent messengers to David to enter into a treaty with him, under which he would engage to use his great influence in bringing all Israel to acknowledge him as king; and after this he found a pretence for going himself unsuspectedly to Hebron to complete the agreement and arrange the steps to be taken. David had sent to Ishbosheth to desire him to restore to him his wife Michal, whom Saul had given to another. He had a perfect right to make this demand, if so inclined, the rather as she had thus been disposed of against her own wish; but we may suppose that he was particularly induced to reclaim her at this juncture, in consideration of the satisfaction the measure was like-high stations he had occupied under them, ly to give to those attached to the family of Saul. As this claim was doubtless supported by Abner, it was granted; and having obtained an order to demand her from her present husband, that personage himself undertook to escort her to David. From this transaction it would seem that the war had latterly been allowed to die away, although without any concession or treaty having been made on either side. That he was escorting the daughter of Saul to David proved to Abner a favorable opportunity, on his way, of explaining his present sentiments to the elders of the tribes through which he passed; especially to those of Benjamin, which was naturally the most attached to the house of Saul, while his own influence in it was the greatest. He dwelt strongly on the public benefits which might be expected from the government of one who had been expressly nominated by Jehovah to the kingdom; and such a presentation, coming from such a quarter, coupled with the favorable dispositions toward David which had grown up during his reign in Hebron, was attended with such effect, that Abner was authorized his influence with the people was far greater than that which Joab or any other man in Israel could pretend to; and hence his greater power at this time of rendering essential services to the king of Judah. Abner and Joab also served very different masters; and thus it happened that while Abner was, in the public eye, the greatest man in the kingdom of Israel, Joab was in that of Judah only the greatest man next to David. Upon the whole, Abner was the only man in the country of whom Joab had cause to be afraid, and by whom it was likely that his own influence would be superseded in case the two kingdoms were united through his instrumentality. It was probably more from such considerations than any other that his displeasure at the intercourse between David and Abner arose. He went instantly to the king, and reproached him for allowing himself to be imposed upon by the able uncle of Ishbosheth, declaring his belief that the true object of his visit was to obtain such information concerning his state and resources as he might afterward employ against him. He then went out and sent a messenger after Abner to call |